/var/lib/apt/lists is huge
up vote
27
down vote
favorite
I've noticed that /var/lib/apt/lists is HUGE. It's as large as 86MB. Which seems a little too big. Is this normal? If not, what should I do?
apt package-management
edited Nov 23 at 1:39
MultiplyByZer0
1036
asked Aug 24 '12 at 16:41
thabubble
240135
add a comment |
up vote
27
down vote
favorite
I've noticed that /var/lib/apt/lists is HUGE. It's as large as 86MB. Which seems a little too big. Is this normal? If not, what should I do?
apt package-management
edited Nov 23 at 1:39
MultiplyByZer0
1036
asked Aug 24 '12 at 16:41
thabubble
240135
add a comment |
up vote
27
down vote
favorite
up vote
27
down vote
favorite
I've noticed that /var/lib/apt/lists is HUGE. It's as large as 86MB. Which seems a little too big. Is this normal? If not, what should I do?
apt package-management
edited Nov 23 at 1:39
MultiplyByZer0
1036
asked Aug 24 '12 at 16:41
thabubble
240135
I've noticed that /var/lib/apt/lists is HUGE. It's as large as 86MB. Which seems a little too big. Is this normal? If not, what should I do?
apt package-management
apt package-management
edited Nov 23 at 1:39
MultiplyByZer0
1036
asked Aug 24 '12 at 16:41
thabubble
240135
edited Nov 23 at 1:39
MultiplyByZer0
1036
asked Aug 24 '12 at 16:41
thabubble
240135
edited Nov 23 at 1:39
MultiplyByZer0
1036
edited Nov 23 at 1:39
MultiplyByZer0
1036
edited Nov 23 at 1:39
MultiplyByZer0
1036
1036
asked Aug 24 '12 at 16:41
thabubble
240135
asked Aug 24 '12 at 16:41
thabubble
240135
asked Aug 24 '12 at 16:41
thabubble
240135
240135
add a comment |
add a comment |
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
up vote
24
down vote
accepted
When you run sudo apt-get update (or use the Refresh button in a package manager), a list of packages will get downloaded from the Ubuntu servers. These files are then stored in /var/lib/apt/lists/.
You can safely remove the contents of that directory as it is recreated when you refresh the package lists. If you remove the files, but do not run apt-get update to fetch the lists, commands like apt-cache will fail to provide information (since the cache is empty).
To shrink the directory and speed up fetching package lists, consider disabling some repositories that you do not need (see How to remove a repository?). This includes PPAs (see also How can PPAs be removed?)
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
answered Aug 24 '12 at 18:02
Lekensteyn
119k47262354
add a comment |
up vote
10
down vote
If you feel like that, then try with this command:
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt-get update
edited Aug 24 '12 at 17:34
Peachy
4,88172843
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:17
rɑːdʒɑ
56.3k84215301
1
Will this be safe? Do those lists only contain packages that could be installed and not the installed ones?
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:25
@thabubble yes it is , it will recreate the cache information of your source.there is no harm with this . I am sure .
– rɑːdʒɑ
Aug 24 '12 at 18:32
5
So why is it not in /var/cache/ ?
– Johan Boulé
Apr 25 '16 at 21:13
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
Mine is 142M, so i guess it's normal.
The reason can be because /var/lib/apt/lists/ is the storage area for state information for each package resource specified in sources.list
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:11
LnxSlck
10.2k12949
It may be so large. But this is a newly installed system@642MB. Those lists take up almost 1/6 of the space. And that is huge.
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:24
1
642Mb s very small for an Ubuntu installation. My root filesystem (not including any user or data files) is 14Gb. /var/lib/apt/lists is 123Mb. On a second system the values are 5.3Gb and 87Mb,
– StarNamer
Aug 24 '12 at 18:12
Yes. Ubuntu recomends 5 GB of hard-drive space minimum
– LnxSlck
Aug 24 '12 at 18:17
Mine is 43 Gigabyte
– uvasal
Jul 8 '15 at 2:33
add a comment |
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
24
down vote
accepted
When you run sudo apt-get update (or use the Refresh button in a package manager), a list of packages will get downloaded from the Ubuntu servers. These files are then stored in /var/lib/apt/lists/.
You can safely remove the contents of that directory as it is recreated when you refresh the package lists. If you remove the files, but do not run apt-get update to fetch the lists, commands like apt-cache will fail to provide information (since the cache is empty).
To shrink the directory and speed up fetching package lists, consider disabling some repositories that you do not need (see How to remove a repository?). This includes PPAs (see also How can PPAs be removed?)
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
answered Aug 24 '12 at 18:02
Lekensteyn
119k47262354
add a comment |
up vote
24
down vote
accepted
When you run sudo apt-get update (or use the Refresh button in a package manager), a list of packages will get downloaded from the Ubuntu servers. These files are then stored in /var/lib/apt/lists/.
You can safely remove the contents of that directory as it is recreated when you refresh the package lists. If you remove the files, but do not run apt-get update to fetch the lists, commands like apt-cache will fail to provide information (since the cache is empty).
To shrink the directory and speed up fetching package lists, consider disabling some repositories that you do not need (see How to remove a repository?). This includes PPAs (see also How can PPAs be removed?)
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
answered Aug 24 '12 at 18:02
Lekensteyn
119k47262354
add a comment |
up vote
24
down vote
accepted
up vote
24
down vote
accepted
When you run sudo apt-get update (or use the Refresh button in a package manager), a list of packages will get downloaded from the Ubuntu servers. These files are then stored in /var/lib/apt/lists/.
You can safely remove the contents of that directory as it is recreated when you refresh the package lists. If you remove the files, but do not run apt-get update to fetch the lists, commands like apt-cache will fail to provide information (since the cache is empty).
To shrink the directory and speed up fetching package lists, consider disabling some repositories that you do not need (see How to remove a repository?). This includes PPAs (see also How can PPAs be removed?)
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
answered Aug 24 '12 at 18:02
Lekensteyn
119k47262354
When you run sudo apt-get update (or use the Refresh button in a package manager), a list of packages will get downloaded from the Ubuntu servers. These files are then stored in /var/lib/apt/lists/.
You can safely remove the contents of that directory as it is recreated when you refresh the package lists. If you remove the files, but do not run apt-get update to fetch the lists, commands like apt-cache will fail to provide information (since the cache is empty).
To shrink the directory and speed up fetching package lists, consider disabling some repositories that you do not need (see How to remove a repository?). This includes PPAs (see also How can PPAs be removed?)
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
answered Aug 24 '12 at 18:02
Lekensteyn
119k47262354
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23
Community♦
1
1
answered Aug 24 '12 at 18:02
Lekensteyn
119k47262354
answered Aug 24 '12 at 18:02
Lekensteyn
119k47262354
answered Aug 24 '12 at 18:02
Lekensteyn
119k47262354
119k47262354
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
10
down vote
If you feel like that, then try with this command:
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt-get update
edited Aug 24 '12 at 17:34
Peachy
4,88172843
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:17
rɑːdʒɑ
56.3k84215301
1
Will this be safe? Do those lists only contain packages that could be installed and not the installed ones?
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:25
@thabubble yes it is , it will recreate the cache information of your source.there is no harm with this . I am sure .
– rɑːdʒɑ
Aug 24 '12 at 18:32
5
So why is it not in /var/cache/ ?
– Johan Boulé
Apr 25 '16 at 21:13
add a comment |
up vote
10
down vote
If you feel like that, then try with this command:
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt-get update
edited Aug 24 '12 at 17:34
Peachy
4,88172843
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:17
rɑːdʒɑ
56.3k84215301
1
Will this be safe? Do those lists only contain packages that could be installed and not the installed ones?
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:25
@thabubble yes it is , it will recreate the cache information of your source.there is no harm with this . I am sure .
– rɑːdʒɑ
Aug 24 '12 at 18:32
5
So why is it not in /var/cache/ ?
– Johan Boulé
Apr 25 '16 at 21:13
add a comment |
up vote
10
down vote
up vote
10
down vote
If you feel like that, then try with this command:
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt-get update
edited Aug 24 '12 at 17:34
Peachy
4,88172843
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:17
rɑːdʒɑ
56.3k84215301
If you feel like that, then try with this command:
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
sudo apt-get update
edited Aug 24 '12 at 17:34
Peachy
4,88172843
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:17
rɑːdʒɑ
56.3k84215301
edited Aug 24 '12 at 17:34
Peachy
4,88172843
edited Aug 24 '12 at 17:34
Peachy
4,88172843
edited Aug 24 '12 at 17:34
Peachy
4,88172843
4,88172843
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:17
rɑːdʒɑ
56.3k84215301
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:17
rɑːdʒɑ
56.3k84215301
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:17
rɑːdʒɑ
56.3k84215301
56.3k84215301
1
Will this be safe? Do those lists only contain packages that could be installed and not the installed ones?
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:25
@thabubble yes it is , it will recreate the cache information of your source.there is no harm with this . I am sure .
– rɑːdʒɑ
Aug 24 '12 at 18:32
5
So why is it not in /var/cache/ ?
– Johan Boulé
Apr 25 '16 at 21:13
add a comment |
1
Will this be safe? Do those lists only contain packages that could be installed and not the installed ones?
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:25
@thabubble yes it is , it will recreate the cache information of your source.there is no harm with this . I am sure .
– rɑːdʒɑ
Aug 24 '12 at 18:32
5
So why is it not in /var/cache/ ?
– Johan Boulé
Apr 25 '16 at 21:13
1
1
Will this be safe? Do those lists only contain packages that could be installed and not the installed ones?
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:25
Will this be safe? Do those lists only contain packages that could be installed and not the installed ones?
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:25
@thabubble yes it is , it will recreate the cache information of your source.there is no harm with this . I am sure .
– rɑːdʒɑ
Aug 24 '12 at 18:32
@thabubble yes it is , it will recreate the cache information of your source.there is no harm with this . I am sure .
– rɑːdʒɑ
Aug 24 '12 at 18:32
5
5
So why is it not in /var/cache/ ?
– Johan Boulé
Apr 25 '16 at 21:13
So why is it not in /var/cache/ ?
– Johan Boulé
Apr 25 '16 at 21:13
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
Mine is 142M, so i guess it's normal.
The reason can be because /var/lib/apt/lists/ is the storage area for state information for each package resource specified in sources.list
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:11
LnxSlck
10.2k12949
It may be so large. But this is a newly installed system@642MB. Those lists take up almost 1/6 of the space. And that is huge.
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:24
1
642Mb s very small for an Ubuntu installation. My root filesystem (not including any user or data files) is 14Gb. /var/lib/apt/lists is 123Mb. On a second system the values are 5.3Gb and 87Mb,
– StarNamer
Aug 24 '12 at 18:12
Yes. Ubuntu recomends 5 GB of hard-drive space minimum
– LnxSlck
Aug 24 '12 at 18:17
Mine is 43 Gigabyte
– uvasal
Jul 8 '15 at 2:33
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
Mine is 142M, so i guess it's normal.
The reason can be because /var/lib/apt/lists/ is the storage area for state information for each package resource specified in sources.list
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:11
LnxSlck
10.2k12949
It may be so large. But this is a newly installed system@642MB. Those lists take up almost 1/6 of the space. And that is huge.
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:24
1
642Mb s very small for an Ubuntu installation. My root filesystem (not including any user or data files) is 14Gb. /var/lib/apt/lists is 123Mb. On a second system the values are 5.3Gb and 87Mb,
– StarNamer
Aug 24 '12 at 18:12
Yes. Ubuntu recomends 5 GB of hard-drive space minimum
– LnxSlck
Aug 24 '12 at 18:17
Mine is 43 Gigabyte
– uvasal
Jul 8 '15 at 2:33
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
Mine is 142M, so i guess it's normal.
The reason can be because /var/lib/apt/lists/ is the storage area for state information for each package resource specified in sources.list
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:11
LnxSlck
10.2k12949
Mine is 142M, so i guess it's normal.
The reason can be because /var/lib/apt/lists/ is the storage area for state information for each package resource specified in sources.list
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:11
LnxSlck
10.2k12949
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:11
LnxSlck
10.2k12949
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:11
LnxSlck
10.2k12949
answered Aug 24 '12 at 17:11
LnxSlck
10.2k12949
10.2k12949
It may be so large. But this is a newly installed system@642MB. Those lists take up almost 1/6 of the space. And that is huge.
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:24
1
642Mb s very small for an Ubuntu installation. My root filesystem (not including any user or data files) is 14Gb. /var/lib/apt/lists is 123Mb. On a second system the values are 5.3Gb and 87Mb,
– StarNamer
Aug 24 '12 at 18:12
Yes. Ubuntu recomends 5 GB of hard-drive space minimum
– LnxSlck
Aug 24 '12 at 18:17
Mine is 43 Gigabyte
– uvasal
Jul 8 '15 at 2:33
add a comment |
It may be so large. But this is a newly installed system@642MB. Those lists take up almost 1/6 of the space. And that is huge.
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:24
1
642Mb s very small for an Ubuntu installation. My root filesystem (not including any user or data files) is 14Gb. /var/lib/apt/lists is 123Mb. On a second system the values are 5.3Gb and 87Mb,
– StarNamer
Aug 24 '12 at 18:12
Yes. Ubuntu recomends 5 GB of hard-drive space minimum
– LnxSlck
Aug 24 '12 at 18:17
Mine is 43 Gigabyte
– uvasal
Jul 8 '15 at 2:33
It may be so large. But this is a newly installed system@642MB. Those lists take up almost 1/6 of the space. And that is huge.
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:24
It may be so large. But this is a newly installed system@642MB. Those lists take up almost 1/6 of the space. And that is huge.
– thabubble
Aug 24 '12 at 17:24
1
1
642Mb s very small for an Ubuntu installation. My root filesystem (not including any user or data files) is 14Gb. /var/lib/apt/lists is 123Mb. On a second system the values are 5.3Gb and 87Mb,
– StarNamer
Aug 24 '12 at 18:12
642Mb s very small for an Ubuntu installation. My root filesystem (not including any user or data files) is 14Gb. /var/lib/apt/lists is 123Mb. On a second system the values are 5.3Gb and 87Mb,
– StarNamer
Aug 24 '12 at 18:12
Yes. Ubuntu recomends 5 GB of hard-drive space minimum
– LnxSlck
Aug 24 '12 at 18:17
Yes. Ubuntu recomends 5 GB of hard-drive space minimum
– LnxSlck
Aug 24 '12 at 18:17
Mine is 43 Gigabyte
– uvasal
Jul 8 '15 at 2:33
Mine is 43 Gigabyte
– uvasal
Jul 8 '15 at 2:33
add a comment |
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